Conventionally, optical machine-readable representations of data, such as barcodes, have used specialized equipment to scan and determine data associated with the representation. Barcode scanners have been adopted in some mobile applications for mobile devices such as cellular telephones. These mobile applications are usually downloaded to a mobile device or portions are downloaded such that the application which functions as a native application on the mobile device. Mobile applications are generally trusted to allow a user to utilize hardware associated with the mobile device, such as cameras.
Electronic commerce businesses often use brick and mortar stores for store fulfillment. During store fulfillment at brick and mortar stores, store employees often walk the floor of the brick and mortar store to find various products for an order, scan the barcode for each product, and broadcast these barcodes to a warehouse system to assist in inventory management and update product supply lists. These brick and mortar stores often receive increased volume during common gift buying seasons such as broadly recognized holidays. Stores engaging in store fulfillment activities often bear the cost of hiring additional employees and purchasing additional hardware during busy periods. The investment of additional hardware may be unnecessary during other times of the year.
The headings provided herein are merely for convenience and do not necessarily affect the scope or meaning of the terms used.